Is It Good? Batman and Robin #38 Review

I don’t know if it ever dawned on Batman but has he ever considered why Superman isn’t fighting pocketbook snatchers and bank robbers too often? Maybe it’s the power set — having flight and super strength is really wasted on the petty crimes.

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A question to chew on while reading about the new super Robin. Is it good?

Batman and Robin #38 (DC Comics)

If you’re just joining us Robin was resurrected after Batman took on Darkseid and brought him back from the dead. Fun fact though, Robin is now indestructible and can even fly. The issue opens with Robin antsy to go out on patrol after he wakes up Batman to cause a little ruckus in the daily lives of criminals. Writer Peter J. Tomasi delivers what could be considered a fantastically well paced issue that centers on Robin and his new lease on life.

Oh sure ruin a perfectly good suit!

It’s pretty obvious with Robin’s powerset he’s being wasted going on patrol with Batman. The main action sequence has him walking straight into bullets because, why dodge them when you don’t have to? Batman makes a good point though, which is to not draw unnecessary risk to yourself by being so obvious with the super powers. The only thing really tethering him to Batman seems to be his age, but considering Robin has always been a rather old soul with his villainous history one can’t expect this to last very long.

Still as ruthless as ever!

The issue quickly changes gears however and Tomasi explores Robin’s anger towards his family and their murderous ways. Specifically his own murder. There’s some 7 stages of grief stuff going on, and by issue’s end there’s a heartfelt action Robin takes to move on from his parents’ cut throat ways. All in all the issue moves very briskly, but it serves as a very good turning point for Robin and gives him a strong period to put at the end of his ordeal. By issue’s end you’ll feel as open as he does to see where these new powers can take the character.

The art by Patrick Gleason is excellent as always. I really do love how he casts Batman in red when in the Batmobile and he’s got some great emotional expressions for Robin and Batman both. His style is very dark and brooding which goes great for these characters, but where he really excels here is capturing the dramatic moments with an absence of detail when there is little to no dialogue on the page. Clearly his work speaks for itself and there’s no need to clutter the images with narration or dialogue.

I love how calm Alfred is here.

Is It Good?

While a very fast read it’s a strong issue that gives Robin an emotional arc that’s fun to watch and promises a new direction for the fan favorite character.

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